*OFFICIAL* M18x Owner's Lounge Thread

Gaming on battery is a no-go. The discrete graphics cards refused to ramp up in 3D performance modes on battery. I have tried disabling PowerMizer to see if that helps, but it does not. I also tried disabling PowerPlay when I had AMD discrete graphics and that was unsuccessful as well. In the end, it does not matter much, because I always have access to AC power when gaming. In those times (like traveling through airports) that battery life matters, I switch to the IGP and enjoy 04:30 to 05:00 hours of battery life and I am not in an environment suitable for gaming.

I think the power to the discrete graphics gets cut back at the BIOS level or something of that nature. Running discrete graphics on battery is roughly 01:15 to 01:40 hours on my M18x.

 

I used To play fallout news Vegas when I used to have the AMD 6990M on battery with xfire disable I don't remember for how long because I never put attention to it. I try to do the same with SLi disable and it is not possible, the game run at 5 to 10 fps, that sock.

 

FInally got my 330 watt PS, but im still getting artifacting on the screen, even with the 2 new 6990m's. Havent even installed any new drivers yet............BTW, Dell's webpage keeps stating error occured when I try to get to the drivers page, is it down? Anyone know where I can quickly download all the latest drivers? Links?

 

Looks like they're still having problems....

 

Probably down for maintenance. That happens to me about once a month and going back later or the following day it is usually working fine. I check for new drivers recommended by Dell at least once a month.

 

mmm interesting... 4-5hours with the IGP is more than enough for me. An added bonus is the IGP is most likely enough to run league of legends for a few hours.

Thanks for the replies, helped sway me towards buying one

 

The IGP will easily run any game that will run on an "ordinary" laptop.

On AC power, I have actually played Left4Dead 2 with lower settings and it worked quite well. The HD 3000 IGP is overclockable as well. I have not learned how to do that yet because I don't really need to with GTX 580M SLI.

Good choice... glad we were able to influence your decision. In my opinion, the M18x is the best gaming laptop you can buy. The performance is incredible and the build quality is second to none. The anodized alloy chassis is phenomenal. But, beware... this beast is so awesome that it will make you despise the idea of owning something less... especially the idea of owning a laptop with a plastic chassis.

 

I also played about with iGFX the other day - didnt do any gaming on it but I did notice that you can adjust settings for max performance etc which I didnt think would be an option.....obviously battery life would suffer but I was suprised to see the options available under the iGFX. NICE!

 

Help me, it would seem that Dell Tech support cannot help me with this issue because I reinstalled OS 7 Ult. x64 on a Raid 0 using 2 500GB HDs. No, no solid states. Anyway, they say to me that I would have to pay extra, outside of 1 year extended warranty, to get them to verbally help me. I scoured the internet looking for answers and this forum, specifically this thread, has come up several times.

I am deployed to Kuwait, at the moment. I ordered a Dell Alienware m18x R1. I'll post the specs in a minute. It came with 1 single 500GB hard drive. I had an extra from a ASUS G74SX BBK7 I had purchased 2 months prior only to have it crash during a bios update that left me with a $1400 paperweight. It's hard to ship to anyone when you're on deployment. So, that being said I bought this beautiful little work of genious. I placed the extra 500GB in and set a raid 0, striped volume of course, only to reinstall Windows. I knew I would lose everything. Ugh, to the point. I cannot get my IGP to respond. The laptop stays on DGP and simply refuses to change over. I press the [FN]+[F7] and get the prompt. I click the restart button and the laptop restarts back into DGP. I can't install the drivers for the IGP, which is Intel 3000 HD, because everytime I try to... it tells me I don't have the required minimum hardware, which I know is the IGP. I have been in contact with Dell for the past 4 days trying to iron out the kinks with a transfer of ownership, situating my wifes' m17x R2, warranties, troubleshooting, trying to find a drivers, restore, repair disc.

I just really need help with this.

Detailed Specifications:
-- Alienware M18x Laptop
-- 8X DVD ± RW Drive
-- Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth Module
-- Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
-- Certified Refurbished
-- 12 Cell Battery
-- 500 GB SATA II Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
-- 1.5GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M
-- 4 GB Dual Channel DDR3 (1600MHz)
-- 18.4 inch Wide FHD (1920 x 1080) WLED Display
-- Processor: Intel Core i7-2760QM Processor (2.4 GHz,w/Turbo Boost,6MB Cache)
-- Wave Systems Software
-- AlienFX Color, Quasar Blue
-- Alienware AVATAR 3
-- 210W/240W switchable Slim 3P A/C Adapter
-- 125V Power Cord
-- Nebula Red Anodized Aluminum
-- Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Operating System DVD
-- Intel Advanced-N 6200 a/g/n 2x2 MIMO Technology
-- Image Restore Software

Also, one more thing. Every time I plug something into my USB3 slots on the left, it tells me that my device is ready to be used by nothing shows up in My Computer. I have a 1TB external that has SS on it. The USB3 slots have SS ontop of them on the left side of the laptop, but none of them appear inside the My Computer. Power is sent to the device, though.

 

DesertCommander - the person you are talking to is full of baloney. Your Windows reinstall did not cause this problem. Try re-flashing the A05 system BIOS. You can download it from Dell. It may be a messed up setting in the system BIOS, as that is where the IGP has controls. The IGP is part of the CPU.

After flashing the vBIOS, if the problem persists, go into the BIOS and try resetting to defaults. The option for that is on the last menu along with save settings and exit. After trying these tips, please post and let us know if one or the other worked. If it didn't, we will try to come up with something else.

BTW - you cannot install the HD 3000 IGP drivers until you have booted on the IGP. When the GPUs are active, the IGP is invisible, and vice versa. That is why you are getting the message about not having the required hardware.

You need to install the drivers for the USB 3.0. They are posted in a section you would not expect them to be at support.dell.com. I think it is posted under chipset.

 

DesertCommander,
I had an issue similiar to that. Let's hope that's not the case with your situation. No matter what I tried it wouldn't be recognized and I could not install the driver. It would say that I didn't have the requirements or some such nonsense. After my bout of troubleshooting I realized it was beyond my expertise and contacted Dell.

After 3-4 hours of remote connection troubleshooting that tech gave up and knew it was a hardware problem. Eventually they replaced my motherboard and I believe that was the offender.

Upon replacement booted into windows, installed the driver and it worked. Oddly enough just a few weeks ago I went to switch to the IGP and it refused to work. The reinstallation of Alienware OSD did the trick, despite the fact that I already had the latest version.

So you might want to try the latest version of OSD and see if that solves the problem.

 

I reflashed the A05 bios. I was nervous because that is what happened to the ASUS. I did the bios reset. What else. I've tried switching consecutive after restarts. He said he couldn't help because THEY did not tell me to do the reinstall. As far as the USB3 thing. I did install the drivers from the website. I just don't understand it.

I'll give it a shot.

EDIT: Nope, it didn't work. It uninstalled previous OSD, restarted, and reinstalled OSD. Perhaps it is broken. I mean, it's not that big of an issue, I just like when everything works the way it is supposed to, you know. Oh well, I guess.

 

Yes, sounds like something is broken with the mobo, just as Bloodroses pointed out. It may be one of the settings in the BIOS that is not correct, but you may not be able to see the incorrect setting with the factory BIOS UI. It's not because you reinstalled Windows, and it was evidence of ignorance that the person you were speaking to suggested that was the reason. I would call 1-800-ALIENWARE and speak to someone in the US or Costa Rica. (If you end up connected to Dell Support in India, instead of Alienware Support in the US or Costa Rica, hang up and try again later.) Drop the subject of reinstalling Windows and focus on the problem. If you still get the run-around from Level 1 Support, send a PM to AW-FedericoH here on the forum and ask for his assistance in getting proper support from someone with enough knowledge to help you. Provide your support ticket # and service tag, email address associated with your Dell/Alienware account, etcetera, if you need to ask for his help.

 

May i know why M18x is out of stock?

Are they releasing a new one or what ?

how much it cost for this spec :

M18x Specs: Intel Core i7 2920XM | NVIDIA GTX 580M SLI | 16GB DDR3-1600
Crucial M4 128GB SSD + Seagate Momentus 750GB HDD | Panasonic BD-RW

?

 

You cannot purchase the specs in red from Alienware.

M18x Specs: Intel Core i7 2920XM | NVIDIA GTX 580M SLI | 16GB DDR3-1600
Crucial M4 128GB SSD + Seagate Momentus 750GB HDD | Panasonic BD-RW

For custom configuration and pricing, go to http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-m18x/pd.aspx

 

Yeah, I will just wait until I get back stateside. It's hard to do things like that from here in Kuwait. As far as the alienware techie goes. He was American. I think I should be fine. The desert sand and dust should not impair the laptop too much. Haha.

 

I thought you were in Mississippi. Being in Kuwait is definitely a "game changer" and probably puts you at a huge disadvantage when it comes to receiving good tech support.

 

Yep indeed it is *points to location*. I am local, IE not from the army so I don't have the luxury of shipping it here either, what I do however is have it shipped to someone I trust in the states to check thoroughly, if everything passes his inspection he sends it to me. Sure it means extra shipping charged but when there is no alternative, its the best you can do. As far as tech support goes, if you can't fix it yourself, then your screwed lol.

 

Well, I had purchased it off eBay 3 weeks after my ASUS burned up on me. I purchased the ASUS g74sx, a refurb, and had it shipped to my APO. ASUS tech support was horrible. They kept saying that since I was deployed here that I would have to send it to Saudi Arabia to a techie there. I would have to pay everything. Shipping, handling, and the service. Well, I said forget that and just scrapped the ASUS. I got the Alienware. Well, you know everything about it so far. I'm going to wait until I get home and use up the warranty to fix this issue or atleast attempt to.

It's really not that serious of an issue, though. I love it. Got my aqua green keys, lime green number pad, red alien buttons up top right.. It's so amazing looking.

 

Do all of you bought your alienware from dell ??

or third party sellers exmaple origin pc ?

Dell only offers sata 2 and older SSDs which make me feel sick buying old SSD with the same price as its newer brother

 

The Alienware M18x is generally shipping with the Samsung 830 SATA-III 6.0GB/s SSD. What you see on the order configuration page needs to be updated.

 

Hi All,

As title really, im in the waiting period prior to getting my new 18x delivered.

Just wondering if anybody can provide a suggested guide for a new owner ?

Specs are as follows;

2760QM (will be upgraded in next few months)
4gb 1333mhz (16gb of HyperX 1866mhz on order)
750gb HDD (will be swapped out for 128gb Crucial M4)
BDrom
Dual 580m
EU 375 bluetooth
EU Ultimate 6300

Now i know from reading the forums that the m18x has a few 'quirks'. Basically im after a guide on the best order to install, best drivers (compatability/performance etc) and a general guide for best performance out the box.

Any seasoned 18x owners fancy stepping up and giving a n00b (a lot of) advice

As always, any help greatly appreciated

Best regards.

Dave.

 

I'm pretty sure you would get a Sammy drive too....my order documentation from Dell and my packing slip actualy stated Samsung PM810 (which was the sata II drive previously used by Dell) but installed were two PM830's - the Dell OEM version of the Samsung 830 Series Drives.

I think wherever possible, Dell will ship with Sata III drives - even Bill (Dell Liason who visits these Forums) said the same and that there is no reason why they would now send out a Sata II drive with a Sata III capable system now that Samsung are the SSD Provider of choice for Dell, with the 830 being the current drive.

I think you will be OK as Mr. Fox says.....

 

New M18x Owner - Initial Setup Recommendations

Congratulations on your decision to purchase the finest gaming laptop available. With the GTX 580M SLI, you got one heck of a beast.

First thing to do is use AlienRespawn to create backup media. Since you are going to move to an aftermaket SSD, you'll end up losing AlienRespawn. The media you create can be used to reinstall the OS on a regular HDD if you should ever need to do that. The factory installation for a regular HDD is not optimized for use on SSD.

Second thing to do is start having fun. Alienware systems have no bloatware and they generally work great right out of the box. The exception is the video drivers. You will want to grab the latest from NVIDIA as BF3 will not run on Dell's recommended driver and many other latest releases perform poorly unless you get the latest. Read and download from this thread.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/647188-nvidia-295-73-whql-released-2-21-12-a.html​

Since you have the Intel Ultimate-N 6300, you don't need to worry about the problems with certain versions of Killer Wireless drivers.

Here is a thread with answers to your question about driver installation order, although there will hopefully be no reason for you to need it frequently.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...er-install-order-guide-alienware-systems.html​

This thread should have all you need to know about setting up your new aftermarket SSD. (Tip: leave the BIOS set on RAID, and don't clone your HDD to SSD. Do a clean install.)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...d0-questions-troubleshooting-discussions.html​

Here are a couple of threads you will want to get up to speed with for the GTX 580M SLI to perform flawlessly.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-throttle-fix-no-vbios-flashing-required.html​

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-sli-dpc-latency-problems-25.html#post8327684​

If you plan to use 3D, good luck with that... you'll need it until this issue gets fixed, LOL.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...t-only-nvidia-confidential-error-message.html​

If you need to know anything else, please review this thread prior to starting a new thread. It will help you find the answers you need.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ion-how-search-forum-read-before-posting.html​

For a reference list of a number of additional useful threads, click the link in my signature on the left side, just above the graphic image.

Have fun, and again, congratulations. I hope you love your beast as much as I do mine.

Edit: If anyone has suggestions for links relating to new M18x setup, please send me a PM with a link to the post you recommend to be added. I will gladly consider your suggestions. I have added a link to this post in the index found in my signature.

 

Mr. Fox,

Thank you very much for that, that is exactly what i was after. Some may call it laziness but the thought of trawling through a few thousand posts after relavant info fills me with dread !

If i could rep you i would, again thank you.

Dave.

 

Hey guys!

Well my trusty old m970 has is finally dieing a slow death (over 4 yrs old and had 0 problems!)
Been looking to buy the following below from aafes for $2579 with mil member discount:

Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Intel® Core™ i7 2760QM
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (2DIMMS)
18.4-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 WLED
Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6990M AMD CrossFireX
750GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s (have sep SSD)
Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video and Bluetooth 3.0
1 Year Basic Plan

I see alot of threads on how to optimize your sys once you get it. I had to do that to get the SLI to work on my m9750 initially. Is it that much of a hassle with doing 2 ATI cards (setup wise). My only concern is having payed alot but still having to do alot of tweeking. Just trying to get an overall feel about how much time it took in general to get the sys to where you wanted it with drivers and such. I bookmarked Mr. Foxs guide for reference...just seems like alot to do for something right out of the box. Thanks for any help!

 

Hi RW,

I asked almost the very same question earlier today........

My thread got moved to the m18x owners lounge, Mr. Fox did however post an ultra useful post which will answer your question (as it did mine)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/8337988-post2574.html

Happy reading !

Dave.

 

yea just saw that...dee de de (smacks forehead). I'll just move over there...

Sry for the duplicate thread post all

 

No problem. We are excited for all new M18x owners and enjoy helping with questions and set up advice. It's natural to have the urge to create a new thread to celebrate and ask questions. It's can sometimes take a lot of effort to search for relevant threads on a forum as massive as this one. The forum search feature is lousy, but Google does work excellent with the site:forum.notebookreview.com prefix. And, I will be the first to acknowledge that "new M18x setup" and "M18x initial setup" doesn't produce good hits like many other key words do.

RogerWilco69, congratulations on your excellent purchasing decision, too. Brace yourself for awesomeness. The 6990M CrossFire setup is as much a beast as the GTX 580M SLI setup.

Dave - glad you found the information useful. Thanks for saying so.

 

im waiting for the ivy bridge upgrades + graphics card. the dual 7970m is going to be a killer. yet another 1 year wait..

 

Boo Yea ordered!

Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Intel® Core™ i7 2760QM
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (2DIMMS)
18.4-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 WLED
Dual 2GB GDDR5 580m SLI
750GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s
Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video and Bluetooth 3.0

Will be throwing a after market 128 GB SSD, RAM, and U3 cooler into the mix. This thing will be epic! Should hold me over on this 1 yr. deployment I just found out I gotta do (ugh. I have to sell my desktop since the wife won't use it while I'm gone...at least she said I could rebuild it when I got back...he he he MORE POWER!!!

Guess I will soon have to retire my trusty m9750 after all these years....sigh

 

Lol, good luck on your deployment. I purchased my wife a m17x R2. Hahaha, we tried playing a game together but the internet is not quite that fast. Haha.

 

Good Luck ! You will love your U3 I know I do, be carefull on your deployment with your laptop, sometimes on the flights they make you check your carry on, I just acted like i was an idiot and didnt know what they were talking about and snuck it on.

 

the wireless HD and the wireless is not avalible on the M18X configuration. what going on eh!

 

If you look closer, the Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 is now included as standard equipment. I don't know about the wireless HD. It disappeared from the configuration tool a couple of days ago. Perhaps they are out of stock on the parts. Another possibility is that they are not offering it any more because of the amount of technical support required for too many people that cannot figure out how to use it correctly.

 

Every time I fire up my M18x I'm just floored by the fact that it's more powerful than the Alienware Aurora (i7 960, 460 GTX SLI) it replaced. Ok, maybe the tri-Channel memory in the Aurora was faster than the dual-channel in the M18x, but everything else...

1) Don't bother upgrading your CPU, you probably won't be able to appreciate any sort of real-world performance difference. Save your money for...
2) A 256 GB Samsung 830, which will be bigger and faster than a 128 GB Crucial M4 (according to Anandtech benchies). The two 128 GB models are comparable, but the 256 GB Samsung 830 is a bit faster than the 128 GB model.

Other than that, enjoy your system

P.S. I noticed your location "British Forces Germany." Whatever happened to BFBS? I used to listen to that station all the time where I live in Bonn, but they seem to have vanished from the airwaves... German radio stations play some pretty crappy pop music... at least BFBS catered to a more diverse crowd

 

Like most things British, work is constantly getting "out-sourced" to other areas of the world instead of at home in the UK....chances are its still broadcast but its being done cheaper elsewhere, and in a foreign language LOL!

 

hi guys!
you would have a report of the entire contents of your hardware to send me? may be the aida or hardinfo

 

The 2760QM is a great CPU for ordinary tasks and gaming. If you want the ultimate in power and configuration options, a 2920XM or 2960XM CPU is definitely going to make your beast a dominator. I upgraded from a 2760QM to a 2920XM CPU not long ago and I am very pleased with the increased performance. It delivers performance at a level that is not possible with a non-Extreme CPU. My next new system will have an OEM Extreme CPU. I think it is worth the added cost.

What do you what this information for? How are you planning to use the information? Many of the systems vary in configuration, as the M18x is not a mass-production standard machine configuration like many of the other so-called gaming laptops that are being sold. On top of the variety of configuration options, many of us have altered the configuration with aftermarket parts.

If you are looking to make an informed purchasing decision, go to the Alienware Laptops - Custom Gaming Laptops and Notebooks web site and use the "Build Yours" button to check what the different component offerings are, and what they will cost.

 

So dell has decided to replace my M17X R2 with a M18X, I am pretty happy with there decision, because I really wanted HDMI in. I just have a question, is there anything that I need to know about the laptop, best drivers tips for optimization Specs are stock intel cpu don't know name, 8GB ram 6990m Crsosfire

 

Hey guys ok I have made just a few posts with questions and such about my new alienware laptop. Thought I would post what my laptop is now. I have the M18x, 2960XM processor, 8GB of Kingston Hyper X memory(installed myself), Dual 580m(with the fox fix applied), 240GB Corsair Force GT(installed myself), 750gb 7200 rpm data drive. I have just about got my system back up to where I want it after the SSD install. This is my frist ever alienware, and first system to have an SSD and dual video. So far have to say I am impressed with this machine.

 

I have to agree. The M18x is the finest laptop I have ever owned or used.

 

+1

I have used many laptops, from Vaio Z's to Malibal to other Alienwares and I have to agree. The m18x is the best out of the bunch.

 

Hey hey Bholden870! I am in the same boat. I have just transitioned from desktop systems that I normally build myself. This is my very first personal laptop and Alienware system. The laptop is a powerhouse and a work of art. When my Dad first laid eyes on it he said it looks like a custom car.. LOL! Not too far from the truth. This forum is kind of like a "muscle car / hot rodders" club. Also beware... these forums are addictive!!

For some of us, it's about chasing numbers and bragging rights, for others it is about having the upper hand to "frag" an opponent silly. Whatever apps or gaming genres you are into the M18x will handle it with ease.

My wife asked my young daughter, "What should we get Daddy for his birthday this year?" My daughter replied, "How about an Alienware he doesn't have to "test" all of the time". Ahhh... "From the mouths of babes". I'm always up to something on my M18x.

Now go forth and enjoy!!!

 

That's very cute.

 

Totally agree on, these forums are addictive!! . Lol

 

Coworker calls the M18X a piano due to the size of it and the power supply makes the work laptops look small. (funny when a power brick is almost the same size as a laptop (15"))

 

Just extended my warranty to cover accidental damage, with all the traveling this machine going to be doing it was a smart idea.

 

Did you haggle the price to add accidental damage? Been thinking about that but after the fact warranty or accidental is expensive.

 

I've always wanted an Alienware and it was cost prohibitive when I was younger and now that I’m married with a kid and one on the way it’s still cost prohibitive. But, I still went ahead and purchased one with my DPA. Do not regret it one bit. Little bit disappointed with the flex on the keyboard (minor issue) and after removing the plastic trim to get to the keyboard ram that plastic has a little flex near the hinges (again, a minor issue). Otherwise I have the machine exactly the way I want it: Intel 2969xm OC, NVIIDIA 580M SLI, 16GB HyperX-1866 MHz Ram, 512 GB Samsung 830 SSD, Seagate Momentus 750GB HDD, Killer 1103, WirelessHD (awesome by the way), and Blu Ray…great laptop and actually not as expensive as I expected for the specs.